SWEDEN completely outclassed South Korea to kick off match day five of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The Swedes still needed luck on their side, however, as a dramatic, late Video Assistant Referee (VAR) penalty decision was all that separated the two teams at full time. South Korea is on the ropes in Group F after the 1-0 loss, still needing to play Germany and Mexico.

Panama was also left on the brink of a World Cup exit after a red-hot Belgium banged in three second half goals in the opening Group G game of the tournament. Belgium powered to a 3-0 win with star striker Romelu Lukaku scoring a six-minute brace.

The performance put Group G opponents England on notice — and everything was going swimmingly for the Three Lions in their clash against Tunisia until Kyle Walker’s brain snap gifted the opposition a penalty to make it 1-1 at halftime.

But skipper Harry Kane came to the rescue, heading home his second goal of the game in stoppage time to give England a 2-1 win.

6.15am

‘Unfathomable’ error after England star’s brain snap

Harry Kane came to the rescue.Source:Getty Images

England captain Harry Kane saved his side’s blushes with a winner in extra time after it looked like Tunisia was going to hold the Three Lions to a draw.

The Tottenham striker found himself completely unmarked and headed home at the far post after a teammate deflected a corner in his direction at the death. It was his second goal of the match after he opened the scoring in the first half from point-blank range after he again proved to be Johnny-on-the-spot when Mouez Hassen’s superb one-handed save only parried the ball to Kane’s feet inside the six-yard box.

Former Socceroo turned SBS analyst Craig Foster said Kane being left unattended before his second goal at such an important stage of the match was “unfathomable”.

“In the end, the goal off the corner … it was incredible to think that there is a player marking Harry Kane (who) in that moment, right in the last minute of the game, decides it is a good idea to walk off him and actually run away and leave him completely free on the edge of the six-yard box in a World Cup. It’s unfathomable,” Foster said.

“If you have a look at this, with the defender and what occurs in this corner, it is amazing.”

For all England’s domination, it looked for a worrying amount of time it would only escape with a draw against a Tunisian outfit that was outclassed all over the park. Centre back Kyle Walker became a national villain when he needlessly gave away a penalty shortly after the half-hour mark.

He lifted both arms and struck a Tunisian player in the head as they prepared to challenge for an incoming cross. The danger was minimal and Walker had no reason to put himself in the position to give away a spot kick, which Ferjani Sassi converted.

Social media savaged him for his brain snap, which saw him become the first Englishman to concede a penalty at a World Cup since David Seaman brought down Argentine Diego Simeone in 1998.

Foster called it a “moment of madness”.

Kyle Walker was guilty of atrocious defending against Iceland at the Euros and that was just as bad. Always liable to do something stupid & he's cost #Eng badly #TUNENG#WorldCup

England dominated from the opening whistle, boasting 61 per cent of the possession and taking 18 shots to six. Realistically it should have won by five goals but its finishing wasn’t up to scratch.

Jesse Lingard in particular had numerous gilt-edged chances from close range and will be ruing his inability to find the back of the net. After a couple of minutes his first time strike from just metres out found the keeper and shortly after he stumbled and completely muffed his effort on goal when he received a Raheem Sterling cross in open space.

Kane gave England fans reason to cheer when he found the net after a quarter of an hour but Lingard missed an opportunity to double the advantage when he skewed a volley wide from inside the six-yard box after 25 minutes.

Several more chances went begging in the first stanza as miscued shots, desperate clearances and the post all combined to prevent Gareth Southgate’s men from retaking the lead.

At halftime it was 1-1 though England supporters had every right to feel aggrieved when Kane looked like he was rugby tackled off the ball inside the box, but it went unnoticed by the referee.

It was much of the same in the second half as England had all the ball but lacked a killer instinct. Kieran Trippier was always threatening on the flank but again no one could produce the necessary final touch.

It was the third VAR penalty awarded at these championships after France and Peru also benefited from video referrals.

Football commentators were impressed to see the technology actually work.

However, the delayed decision by the referee showed the VAR system still has many awkward problems to fix as South Korea’s raid up the other end of the field was stopped to allow the referee to review the tackle.

One of the many grey areas regarding VAR highlighted there as a #KOR attack is stopped to look at a #SWE penalty appeal. #SWEKOR#WorldCup

The win was reward for Sweden’s more attacking approach, but it was unsurprising the winner came from the penalty spot in a game between two sides who had only managed two goals between them in seven games heading into Russia.

Sweden never really convinced that they would score prior to the penalty despite their domination and a toothless South Korea did not manage one shot on target.

However they should have equalised in the 90th minute but Hwang Hee-chan put a free header wide, spurning the Koreans’ best chance of the game by far.

The victory leaves Sweden joint top of the group after Mexico’s surprise victory against world champions Germany on Sunday.

Next up for the Swedes is an intriguing encounter against Germany in Sochi on June 23.

South Korea started the game brightly, forcing the first corner in the fourth minute, but were gradually forced back by an attritional Swedish side.

It was the Europeans who came closest to breaking the deadlock when forward Marcus Berg was denied by a fine point-blank save Jo Hyeon-woo in the 20th minute.

Striker Romelu Lukaku banged in two goals in six minutes in the second half as Belgium sent a warning to the world with a 3-0 drubbing of Panama.

A moment of inspiration from Dries Mertens set the Belgians on their way two minutes after the break, his volley breaking the deadlock after a rather flat first period.

Lukaku then converted assists from Kevin De Bruyne and captain Eden Hazard to secure victory in this Group G clash, with the Central Americans succumbing to a defeat in their first-ever match at the finals.

Group rivals England will look to respond to Belgium’s win when they kick off their campaign against Tunisia but this was not entirely the statement of intent that Roberto Martinez’s side would have been hoping to make.

A victory will do for a team who are, on paper at least, good enough to go far in Russia, especially after heavyweights Germany, Brazil and Argentina all slipped up over the weekend.

Belgium are now unbeaten in 20 matches, although the nature of the first-half performance against weak opposition showed that Martinez’s men still have significant progress to make if they are to improve on quarter-final appearances at the last two major tournaments.

To be fair to Martinez, the Spaniard had warned on the eve of this game that his side would not have it easy.

The Central Americans lined up with a team of journeymen featuring five thirty-somethings. Jaime Penedo in goal is 36, while Blas Perez up front is 37. But while the Belgians had the younger, talented players, other factors played in Panama’s favour.

The heat and humidity on Russia’s Black Sea coast was one, as was the fact their supporters greatly outnumbered those following the Belgians.

The locals at the Fisht Stadium got behind the outsiders too, and they were given encouragement as Hernan Dario Gomez’s side competed well in the first period.

Hazard pulled the strings when he could, although the Chelsea star was denied by Penedo in the 38th minute, having earlier found the side-netting when a slack back-pass from opposing captain Roman Torres gifted him the chance.

At the other end, Panama tried to expose Belgium’s potential weaknesses at full-back. However, they struggled to score goals in qualifying and rarely looked capable of beating Thibaut Courtois.

They did manage to frustrate Belgium’s star-studded side after the two teams went to the half time break locked at 0-0. It took a freakish strike from Mertens to break the game open.

Napoli man Merten’s cross looking for Lukaku was headed out by Torres and on by Fidel Escobar. But the ball dropped perfectly back to Mertens, whose volley from the right side of the box arced into the far corner.

South Korea’s coach Shin Tae-yong said Sunday he deliberately made his team wear different numbered shirts in recent friendlies to confuse World Cup opponents who cannot tell his players apart.

He said all but star player Son Heung-min and captain Ki Sung-yueng were given different shirts in games against Bolivia and Senegal in Austria earlier this month to outwit anyone checking up on his team.

The astonishing claim came just 24 hours before his side open their World Cup campaign against Sweden, a seemingly tame encounter which has been spiced up by claims of spying as well as the Korean coach’s shirt subterfuge.

In his press conference, Swedish coach Janne Andersson was forced to apologise after it was claimed one of his scouts had been caught spying on Monday’s opponents at a closed training session in Austria.

But the claim by his Korean opposite number added an extra layer of intrigue to the Group F clash.

“All of the others played in numbers a little bit confusing, that’s why we switched the numbers,” Shin Tae-yong told reporters.

“It’s very difficult for Westerners to distinguish between Asians, that’s why we did that.”

The plan may have backfired on the Koreans though as they lost to Senegal 2-0, and drew with Bolivia 0-0 in their final warm-up games for Russia.

Asked about claims that Sweden had spied on his team, Shin Tae-yong was calm, saying: “I don’t think that’s bad”, adding that all teams needed to know about their opponents.

There have been counter-claims that the Koreans also spied on the Swedes in the run-up to Russia.

The row centres on Swedish scout Lasse Jacobsson who reportedly covertly watching the Koreans prepare for the World Cup.

Jacobsson had apparently rented a house in the town of Leogang, near Salzburg to ‘spy’ on Sweden’s first opponents.

“He heard about a practice session, he didn’t understand that it was a closed session, he didn’t understand and he watched from a distance,” said Andersson, attempting to downplay the incident.

“It’s very important we show respect to all our opponents in all circumstances... if someone could interpret it in another way we regret it.” He added: “It’s been made a mountain out of a molehill.” The claims reflect the growing realisation for both teams that Monday’s match is vital as they have been drawn against world champions Germany and Mexico in a tough-looking group.

Andersson also said he had a full squad of players to choose from and pretty much knew which team he would pick, but refused to reveal more details.

Skipper Andreas Granqvist said at the same press conference that the players could not wait to start the match.

“I am really looking forward to this World Cup, we are raring to go, all of us,” he said.

“We are looking forward to the match... we have had excellent preparations.”